Historically, the financial services industry has been made for men by men, and it’s filled with jargon and unnecessary complexity. This realization is what led former equity analyst and CFO of Citigroup turned founder and CEO, Sallie Krawcheck to create Ellevest, a digital investing platform for women.

First scenario: “You put the $5,000 into a savings account, where it’s considered “safe.” Let’s be very generous and say that the bank offers an interest rate of 1%. So you keep your 5,000 there for 30 years. If you do this, you will end up netting out at $6,739. Great, right? It sounds great, but with an average inflation rate in 2017 around 2.5% or higher, you actually lose purchasing power.”

You have a 50/30/20 rule. Can you explain that?

“The numbers to remember when you’re thinking about how to spend your take-home pay are 50, 30, 20. 50 percent goes to needs. That’s your rent, that’s the clothes on your back. 30 percent, let that go to ‘fun.’ That’s the stuff you love to do. 20 percent should go to ‘Future You.’

The research has shown if you spend the money this way — 50, 30, 20 — you are much more likely to manage through the economic ups and downs, the market ups and downs, your life ups and downs, than if you’re starting out and spending the whole thing.”

How does investing translate to achieving success in the workplace?

“If we’re not investing, we’re doing most of the hard work around money. You know, going to work every day, turning in that amazing design, landing the difficult-to-close client, beating our sales projections… but we’re only getting about half the reward. And so we’re depriving ourselves of the ability to take on more risks in our career if we don’t have a financial cushion built up.”